One of our reasons for staying in Zadar was its compartive proximity to the Island of Pag. We very much wanted to see the Pag lace being worked. We had already seen examples in the Museums. A two hour bus journey would take us there, but with return buses limited to two, the first at 2pm and the other at 6pm.
The island is almost completely bare of trees and a few sheep graze the barren ground, their milk being made into a famous cheese. It was extremely hot when we walked round the harbour to the town, another example of very narrow streets paved with smooth cobbles. A notice pointed to the Lace Centre - but when we got there it was closed! Enquiries at the Information Bureau told us it would not open until the 'Season' and no one knew when that would start - maybe in July, or later at Festival time. However, we did find a shop selling the Pag lace, but understanably expensive. We bought a booklet, but no lace and brave Pauline asked if I could take photos of it. They all came out well. Our guide books said old ladies could be found working in the doorways on the narrow streets. We found two, but they were doing crochet. Perhaps the Guide book thinks it is 'tatting' !!! However, some Pag lace was for sale and Pauling bought a small piece. We searched the whole town, but no more lace at all, so we whiled away the hours waiting for the 6pm bus, eating delicious ice-cream by the harbour. Our booklet told us that Pag lace is a needle-lace, developed from early Reticella lace, where threads are withdrawn from fabric and the remainder buttonhole-stitched over. Nowadays the fabric is dispensed with and the geometric square or circular patterns are worked over foundation threads. In the museums, white blouses and head-dresses were decorated with the Reticella type Pag lace. These head-cloths developed from 16th century fashions and the hems had an extension border of Russian-type bobbin lace. Angela -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter for private users. It has removed 3049 spam emails to date. Paying users do not have this message in their emails. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
